I moved to Seattle for a high-paying tech job. It turned out to be the loneliest time of my life.::After accepting a job at Amazon, Alexander Nguyen moved to Seattle, where he experienced a period of intense loneliness.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alexander Nguyen, a software engineer who moved from New York City to Seattle for a job at Amazon.

    I was surprised by how much people in Seattle liked making small talk; they asked me how my days were going, which wasn’t something I normally experienced in New York City.

    I then spent four or five hours either working on coding tasks or having more sit-in meetings, just to hear what other people’s designs or software thoughts were about.

    I think that’s what really made me lonely: The only people I knew in Seattle were my coworkers, and I couldn’t relate with them — I had a hard time getting to know them on a personal level.

    And on Blind, an anonymous forum where verified employees discuss issues mainly related to tech, I often come across stories from people sharing about how lonely they are.

    I think one big reason for that is software engineering doesn’t require socially demanding skills like in product management or UX design.


    The original article contains 1,459 words, the summary contains 175 words. Saved 88%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!